This blog was very short-lived, as I ought to have guessed it would be before I even created it, but I just don’t have the attention span to update this (as if a lack of updates didn’t make clear).

I’ll get around to deleting this fairly soon, whenever I’m feeling unlazy enough to log into my control panel, so…..uh, take this time to save any screencaps and video clips you may have wanted?

I’ll just go back to rambling one-liners on various anime in my regular blog. Feel free to stop by there if you cared about any of my blathering.

GINTAMA 64: Nmaibous Surprisingly Make You Full

TV program THE EDO sends out reporter Hanano to shadow for a day a certain member of the Joui, who agrees to the program on the conditions that his name and face are withheld from the public (”It’s not K-san, it’s Katsura!” “Why are you putting a mosiac on my face like it’s something perverted?! Remove it!”)…and so Hanano is dragged around as Zura does terrorist-like activities. With Okita and the Shinsengumi popping up here and there, trying to kill him.

It’s a good episode, but not particularly a good one for blogging, since it’s heavy on both visual and spoken jokes, and blogging jokes kinda makes them not funny anymore. =A=

GINTAMA 63: Jump’s Next Edition Preview Isn’t to be Trusted

(If samurai are like dogs, then ninjas are like cats.)

It amuses me how much effort the staff puts into creating the covers of the manga anthologies in the show. They aren’t like in Lucky Star where the staff took the actual magazine covers and pasted them into the show; the Gintama draws fairly believable original covers (though the actual logos may be copy-pasted: the Jump and Ribon logos look *exactly* like they do in the actual magazines.

GINTAMA 62: The Mummy Hunter Becomes the Mummy

Gintama 62….

Gin…tama….62????????

(The Prince of Badminton)

Before I’d realized it, I’d somehow fallen 20 episodes behind in Gintama. This is the main reason I’d been hesitant to start up an anime blog at all, as I am a lazy ASS. However, getting caught up in reading the manga reminded me of why I loved Gintama in the first place, and so I figured I might as well try to catch up on the series. And blog it while I’m at it. For the heck of it all.

GINTAMA 60: The Sun Will Rise Again

(Continuing where we left off on the Kiheitai/Benizakura arc…)

Art quality dropping again! I guess they blew a lot of their budget on the first two episodes?

In any case, the next episode is the climax and conclusion to the Benizakura arc. Hurrah! Blogging individual episodes that aren’t related to anything else is so much easier; blogging arcs, not so much. Probably the reason I put off watching this to begin with. And yes, this arc is only 4 episodes long, and I shouldn’t be complaining because there are shows with arcs 50 some episodes long.

GINTAMA 61: Insects of the Dark Gather near Light

(I spilled ramen on it.)

You know what’s great about Gintama action? The moves don’t have names. There is no shouting out ludicrous Engrish “Sparkle Rainbow Pancreas Sword Flash!” names. There is little thinking and tactics and precision behind every motion that’s made, and therefore we don’t have to sit through long explanations from the commentator-characters as to exactly why this silly movement is the sole key to winning this fight (which will then never work again for any future fights). The fight choreography may not be the slickest or the most original that’s ever been animated, but what we do have is quick, not constantly interrupted to drag out that single fight for five episodes, and really, doesn’t look too bad.

SIGNING UP FOR A NICO VIDEO ACCOUNT (for dummies)

Nico Nico Douga / Nico Douga / Nico Video is basically like a Japanese Youtube.com.

However, to watch any videos on Nico Douga, you need to sign up first. This guide is here to help.

Note: How people use Nico Douga is up to them. There are any number of things to watch on Nico, so I have no intention to listen to any accusations of ‘doing this just to help people watch free anime’. The site is free for anyone to sign up and contains basically any of the content you would expect on similar sites such as Youtube.

(How to sign up.)
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I will not help you with Japanese search words. Use Wikipedia or Anime News Network.

Potemayo (ぽてまよ) (12 eps., 24 parts (+ 1 bonus ep)

A perverted healing anime.

(Honi honi.)

Visual: 3.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Story: 3.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Urine: 5/5
—
Overall: 3.5/5

Lucky Star (らき☆すた) (24 eps.)

You know, that one show about food that you either hated or didn’t.

(Mi-mi-mirakuru Minorun-run.)

Visual: 3.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
More otaku-culture references than you can shake a magical girl stick at: 4.5/5
—
Overall: 3/5

ARIA The OVA ~ARIETTA~ (1 ep.)

More gondolier slice-of-life action (<- ?) on terra-formed Mars!

(Not much happens!)

Visual: 4/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Story: 2.5/5 nothing special
Characters: 4/5 Young Alicia, Akira, and Athena!
Yuri undertones?: 2.5/5 upped a notch
—
Overall: 3/5 not exactly anything worth getting its own OVA ep for.

Akachan to Boku / Baby and Me （赤ちゃんと僕） (35 eps)

This is one of those shows that I decided to watch on a lark.
And it turned out to be quite a good show.

Isn’t it great when things turn out like that?

(…okay, I was crying by EPISODE ONE)

Visual: 3.5/5 - very solid, nothing special
Audio: 3/5 - good acting, don’t remember much else
Story: 4/5 - obviously the best part
Characters: 3.5/5 - good main characters, a little too ‘good’ at times
Weeping-inducing: 3.5/5 - got me by the first episode
Shota/loli-moe: 4/5 - toddlers and elem. students galore
—
Overall: 4/5

Dead Girls (Red Garden OVA / 1 ep.)

Alternate Universe Character Rape fanfiction…in the form of an official OVA. Except not.

(They even sing in this one too!)

I’m pretty sure that Dead Girls is only slated for the one episode…though the Japanese Wiki seems to suggest two episodes. Or maybe what I watched was made up of 2 eps. Because it certainly seems to have concluded. In either case, I’m considering Dead Girls to be complete.

Visual: 4/5 Very pretty, though I doubt CG and anime will ever truly mix.
Audio: 3.5/5 Talalalalalalalalala
Story: 3/5 Um…
Characters: 4/5 YMMV depending on your tolerance of OOCness.
Mechs: LOL/5
WTFery: 5/5
—
Overall: 4/5 I liked it. What.

Category : review | permalink | No Comments

Wellber no Monogatari ~Sisters of Wellber~ (ウエルベールの物語) (13 episodes)
Well, this was a completely stupid show. And yet, it is apparently getting a second season. Which I will probably watch too, because I just don’t learn.

(WARNING: Random caps lock ahead)

Visual: 4/5 - very pretty, some LOL-inducing CGI aside
Audio: 3/5 - okay acting, LOL-inducing SFX
Story: 1.5/5 - oh GEEZ.
Characters: 2/5 - everyone is pretty but DUMB AS HELL.
Yuriness: 2/5 - I was hoping for some real Tina x Rita action =A=
Nipples: 4/5 - the chicks have nipples in this show!
Prince of Tennis: 4/5 - no actual tennis rackets, though.
—
Overall: 1.5/5

There was no actual yuri sexx0ring T____T

What I said about Mikan in the first episode? I take back.

Episode 2 was even funnier and cuter than episode 1. And I haven’t even seen the movie (nor do I particularly want to), but any anime that mentions Brokeback Mountain is a keeper in my book. Yes, manly ‘friendship’. LOLOLOL.

Also, how the hell do some blog owners manage to post about multiple anime everyday? It’s amazing, and just thinking about trying to do that makes me feel extra lazy.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to Potemayo, seeing as the manga runs in Comic High!, and I haven’t liked anything I’ve either seen or read from it so far (Girls High, Hitohira, and (lol) Kodomo no Jikan). However, as far as comedy goes, it actually got quite a few big laughs from me, which is a pretty good sign (as opposed to those unfunny comedies. Yes.)

(Episode 1)

In all likelihood, I’ll probably continue watching this, but there’s almost no likelihood of it being blogged.

So on my LiveJournal, I usually review a bunch of shows I’ve finished all at once, which usually results in crappy reviews because by the time I get around to reviewing them, I no longer remember what happened. Although considering I often can’t remember what happened in the previous week for some anime, I don’t think doing individual reviews will help improve the quality of those reviews. But…we’ll do it anyway, since that’s what anime blogs are for! Or something.

Saint October (26 episodes)

(SAINT OCTOBER WORLD WITH YOU)

Visual: 3.5/5 - consistent art quality, good except for the funky backgrounds and pointless CGI
Audio: 3.5/5 - weakness in acting on some of the main characters’ parts are made up for by the rest of the cast; overall a not-bad soundtrack
Story: 2.5/5 - don’t expect much. Still, entertaining
Characters
-Protagonists: 3.5/5 - Red Loli makes up for the other two
-Villains: 4.5/5 - not all the baddies are great, but Kurtz alone would’ve gotten a 5/5
Loliness: 3/5 - not as high as you’d actually think
WTFery: 4/5 - pretty darn high
—
Overall: 3/5

Have a clip ofAsh (Koyasu) and Kurtz (TsudaKen) in all their dorky-villain glory.

-Kaichou wa Maid-sama! volume 2 （会長はメイド様！）
-FUJIWARA Hiro　（藤原ヒロ）
-Hana to Yume Comics / Hakusensha / February 10 2007

(The President is a Maid)

-Carat! volume 1 （からっと！）
-WATANABE Yoshitomo　（渡辺祥智）
-Blade Comics / Mag Garden / April 30 2007

I picked this up on a lark when I was in Kinokuniya last week, as the front and back cover caught my eye. And I just love it when my blind purchases turn out to be a total hit.

(Carat is not your normal magical girl story.)

-Gin Tama volume 1
-Hideaki Sorachi
-Shonen Jump Advanced Manga / Viz Media / June 2007

Even feeling meh about anime won’t stop me from blowing money on manga, so when I learned that the first English volume of Gintama was already out at Kinokuniya, I made sure to pick up a copy.

(Shonen Jump ADVANCED because it’s uh…advanced or something.)

Hijikata: Why leave the party, pal? It’s a nice fight. Let’s have some fun!

Gintoki: Woah…hold on, are you REALLY a public official? You’re kinda spook eyed. Are you off your meds or something?

Hijikata: You should talk, creep! Coming from someone with eyes like a DEAD FISH!

Gintoki: They’re beautiful. They always sparkle during my close-ups.

(Gintama episode 59)

At first I thought Koyasu was an awful choice for Takasugi. Koyasu is one of those hit and miss seiyuus (e.g., listen to Keith in Toward the Terra. BAD Koyasu there!), but recently his voice isn’t seeming as unfitting as before, though likely I’m just getting used to it.

Most amusing scene of this episode (there aren’t many this arc! =A=) for me was Elizabeth holding up a sign saying “Mochitsuke”. ‘Ochitsuke’ means ‘Calm down’, however, ‘mochitsuke’ is Japanese netspeak (think ‘owned’ and ‘pwnd’ and whatnot.) Though the spitting amused me greatly too. *Nod*

And although I tend to only take clips of funny scenes, here’s a clip of Kagura’s badassness, i.e., another reason for Gintama watchers to go “…and why don’t more people watch this show again?”

-The Law of Ueki volume 6
-Tsubasa Fukuchi
-Viz Media / June 2007

Of my very meager English manga collection, Ueki no Housoku is one of the few series I’ve actually been able to keep up with so far. I don’t really keep track of release dates, but just end up picking up the next volume whenever I pop into B&N or Borders and see it on the shelf. Volume 6 continues with Ueki’s attack on Roberts 10.

(Law of Ueki 6)

BENIZAKURA ARC STAAAAARRRRRTT!!!! This is one of those storylines where Gintama takes a sudden turn for the serious. Sorta. And there’s lots of blood. And stuff. And I’m putting up a lot of screencaps for this, so we’ll cut it.(Continue on with Gintama 58)

‘m starting to wonder if the Justaway is sort of like the Hidden Mickeys in all the Disney animated films, since it pops up in the most random places here and there. I’m not sure if it’s every episode, but just since I’ve started blogging Gintama, it’s been in the past three episodes. (Admittedly, ep 57 had what could hardly be called a “hidden” Justaway.)

-Hoshin Engi volume 1
-Ryu Fujisaki
-Shonen Jump Manga / Viz Media / June 2007

*looks at publisher info page* Holy crap, Houshin Engi started running in Weekly Jump in 1996???? I can’t believe all this stuff I loved and watched back in the day really is ‘back in the day’ stuff now. Anyway, of the WJ stuff I really wanted to see officially translated into English, Houshin Engi was one of them. The other is Gintama, and the first English graphic novel of that is coming out next month or so, I’m pretty much satisfied as is.

(…I don’t actually buy many Viz Shonen Jump graphic novels.)

Kaze no Shoujo Emily 8: Mother’s Room

(…I got a tad teary-eyed at this episode.)

This episode starts off with Mutsu, right-hand woman to Sakamoto Tatsuma, handling a trade deal with some company. Unfortunately, in the middle of the transaction, a couple of baddies wearing little more than underwear pop up and swipe the goods and the money. Mutsu then decides on the Yorozuya to help out with two things: uncover the stolen goods (24 soopah-powah batteries (1 is good enough to power up an entire space ship) and the money, and to beat the crap out of Sakamoto upon finding him and bringing him back to her. However, since they have no leads on where to look for the goods, Gintoki decides to search for Sakamoto first, since he’s brainless and easy to predict. They discover him hanging out at the nightclub Otae and Oryou work at, hitting on Oryou, and proceed to check out the company buying the batteries.

After a few pointless scenes I’ll skip to make this shorter, the next day the company comes up with a lead as to who the third party might be: an evil organization called “The Evil Organization”. (They’re the same guys who were in the episode when Gin-san tries to buy a fan. I didn’t remember 8D) A showdown starts up with Yorozuya (+ Sakamoto) vs. The Evil Organization, who are using the batteries to power their invention, the Justank! Which is totally not a rip-off of the Justaway. After some hectic fighting, the good guys win with the arrival of Sakamoto’s company, who found them through a tracking device Mutsu had put into a gun she gave Gintoki to use. An extra subplot after this was added to expose the original buyers also as petty thieves who were out to rip Sakamoto off, but…not that interesting, so we won’t expand on it.

「ネオアームストロングサイクロンジェットアームストロング砲じゃん　完成度高けーなオイ」

The highlight of this episode was definitely the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Canon emerging from the Justank’s nether regions. I laughed myself sick at that. Also of note was the still of Joui version Sakamoto looking cool (since you can barely see him at all in the ending, much less him looking cool there. I personally really like Sakamoto a lot (that, and Miki Shin’ichirou), more so than Takasugi, so I was glad he got some usage this episode.However, as far as this episode went, …it wasn’t that good. It reminded me of episodes 1-2, also an anime original, and just further proof that the anime staff shouldn’t create their own material. The story wasn’t very interesting, the timing wasn’t that great, the jokes…well, some were good, others not, and most of all, the dialog was flat. While it’s not the smartest or wittiest dialog you’ve ever heard, Sorachi’s special brand of word usage is pretty darn smart and witty, moreso that just about any other shounen title you could mention. Unfortunately, the anime staff isn’t Sorachi, and therefore they fail at emulating it.

They (the anime staff) are very good at rearranging existing material for the animated screen, which is why episode 50 (also an anime original) worked so well: it was basically just a bunch of rip-offs parodies of other existing works. However, if they want to make more original episodes, they either need to become better or…just stop doing them.

In any case, the next episode begins the Benizakura Arc, and considering the short promo they made for it, you can tell the anime staff is pumped up for it, so I have no doubt it’ll turn out well.

Kaze no Shoujo Emily ep 6: The Poison Apple Incident
(Not exactly Snow White)

Kaze no Shoujo Emily ep 7: Beloved Grove
(or forest, or bunch of trees, whatever you want to call it.)

Occasionally they have close ups of Emily’s writing, which is naturally all in English. I’m wondering if these passages are taken directly from the original version of the novel, since it’s not horrible Engrish. I’ve been wanting to read the novels since I started watching Emily, but haven’t been able to find the books in a bookstore yet. I know that the novels are available for free online, as IIRC they’re public domain in Australia or so (not sure about the US), but I don’t particularly like reading long segments of text on a computer moniter.

Yes, we’re gonna just jump right in with the anime blogging as if we’ve been doing it for months now, despite there not being any entries previous to this one.

  Episode 56 of Gintama picks up after the 4 minutes or so of the very beginning of this storyline, which was actually tagged onto the previous episode. Gintama, the freedom anime, does whatever it wants. In order to rebuild their rock-bottom reputation and gain the trust of the people, the Shinsengumi has hired on popular idol Otsuu-chan to be their Commander for a Day. Under Otsuu-chan’s command, the Shinsengumi are forced to disarm and add ‘cute’ phrases at the end of whatever they say. She has also brilliantly decided that the Shinsengumi needs a lovable mascot and has hired a certain three to portray “Makoto-chan”, a tragic-eyed centaur hoisting around a corpse on his back, muttering his uplifting catchphrase “I did it. Oh man, I did it now.”  Unfortunately, while the Shinsengumi are busy kicking the crap out of the Yorozuya, a group of Joui Shishi (extreme nationalists) kidnap Otsuu right from under their noses, then proceed to mock them in front of the public with Otsuu and a number of other kidnapped girls as their visual aid to show what useless tax-wasters the Shinsengumi really are. The Shinsengumi buy time so that they can rescue the girls by being their usual moron selves and doing whatever the nationalists tell them to do. This escalates until they’re told to cut Kondou down, but as per usual, Makoto-chan Gintoki comes through and saves the day. Through the power of curry rice.  –In this episode we have a couple Ghibli references (Neko no Ongaeshi and Mononoke Hime, through Otsuu-ese, i.e. the ‘cute’ attached phrases), a Justaway cameo, talk of girls pooping, and my personal favorite: Hijikata’s turning around 3 times and barking like a dog (3 sec., 1.42MB). I couldn’t quite imagine what it was supposed to look like in the manga, but the anime version is actually ridiculously graceful and pretty and holyshitIthinkIhurtsomethinglaughing. Finally, we get a couple shots of Tsunpo (voiced by Yamazaki Takumi) this episode, who’ll have a larger role starting episode 58 (as if you couldn’t tell from the new ED).

Next episode is apparently an anime original. No clue how that’ll go, since we’ve had both god-awful (ep 1-2) and godly (ep 50), so this could go either way. Likely it’ll just be in the middle somewhere.